Nintendo reveals The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which makes Zelda the hero for the first time in 38 years and looks just like the Link’s Awakening remake

And it’s out on September 26

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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomis the latest game in the saga, but this time it has Princess Zelda as the sole playable protagonist, and it’s out later this year on September 26.

Here’s something no one was expecting: a brand new Legend of Zelda game starring purely the Princess herself. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is the next Zelda game, and it puts the Princess in the driving seat for the first time in the series with all-new abilities.

Zelda’s play style revolves around ‘Echoes,’ which are basically copies of items. Once Zelda has learned an item’s Echo, she can bring it back into reality with her Tri Rod, and use it to solve a variety of scenarios including puzzles, and navigate her way through combat.

One example given in the Echoes of Wisdom announcement was that Zelda might find herself faced with a huge boulder blocking her path, but with the Echo ability, she can create tables to climb over the rock itself. It’s a pretty creative step for a franchise that has typically revolved around items in order to proceed.

Zelda doesn’t have a sword like Link, so you have to think outside the box here. You might create some meat to lure over birds, and then create a trap that snaps them all up once they’re in position, as the debut trailer showed for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

It’s fascinating that this brand new entry in the Zelda series is going back to the art style of the Link’s Awakening remake. The remake was never developed by Nintendo, but was instead outsourced to third-party developer Grezzo, so the decision to stick with that art style is pretty intriguing for this new game.

Check out ourupcoming Switch gamesguide for a full look over all the other exclusives slated for this year and beyond.

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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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